A Change of Plans
by Mary Ann M
Summary: The girls invite Luke on a tour of Lorelai's old summer camp after Chris lets them down. Just a little fatherdaughter drama and typical Lorelai humor.
1. The Invitation

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own these characters or anything related to the Gilmore Girls.

Chapter 1: The Invitation

Lorelai was stretched out on the couch breathing in the amazing smells wafting towards her from the kitchen. This, however, did nothing to calm her indignation. She had been exiled. Forced out of the cooking area by her own best friend- and her daughter! _Too uncoordinated, sheesh. Maybe I did spill an entire bag of flour and then proceed to make the mess bigger upon my sad attempt to clean it. So what?_

"Sook? I'm loving the smell of all this food, but I wanted to cook for you. You're the one with the birthday."

"Relax, I'm a professional. This is what I do. Besides, Rory is fast becoming an expert assistant."

"Oh, please. She can't cook. She's only good for adding up measurements in her head."

"Hey I heard that," Rory piped up.

"So? It's true, and you know it."

"You're just grumpy 'cause your genius cook Sookie a birthday dinner plan backfired. Mainly because you forgot you can't cook."

"Well can't I at least watch?"

"NO!" They chorused this together.

Resigned to her fate, Lorelai reached for the TV remote. She had it in her hand when the phone rang.

"I'll get it. Or, wait. Do I need permission from the lords of the kitchen first?"

"Just answer the phone, mom."

"Fine, fine." Lorelai picked up the phone. "Hello."

"Hey Lor."

"Chris? What are you calling for?"

"Isn't a guy allowed to call his girls every once in a while?"

"Oh, he's allowed it's just that you often don't."

"I know, and I want to make up for that."

"You do, huh?" Lorelai rolls her eyes and flops back on the couch, twirling a piece of hair in her fingers.

"Yep."

"So what's the plan?"

"Well, I was thinking a road trip- just you, me and Rory."

"Wow. And where would our wanderings take us?"

"Our old summer camp. It's empty this time of year. And it would be fun to show Rory all our old haunts."

"Yeah, huh, well when were you thinking of going?"

"How 'bout the weekend of the 18th. Rory could even stay with me in Boston for a night if it's okay."

"Yeah that sounds great Chris. I'll tell Rory, and she can talk to you about the lodging situation, and I guess I'll meet the two of you in Boston the morning of the 19th."

"Great, Lor. I'll see ya then."

"Bye Chris."

Lorelai hangs up the phone and stands up to put the phone back on the desk. "Hey Ror- that was your dad."

A rather disheveled Rory, in an apron no less, appears. "Really? What did he want?"

Lorelai grins at her daughter's appearance- and her enthusiasm for anything involving her dad. _I will hurt you Christopher if you let this girl down one more time._

"He wants to take us to the summer camp he and I used to go to, up in Maine. Give you a tour."

"Cool. When?"

"In two weeks. He also said he wants some father/daughter time so he was wondering if maybe you could take the train up Friday after school and stay over. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, mom, that sounds fun. I've never been to his house in Boston. I'm gonna go e-mail him right now and say I'm coming. Oooo. Maybe we can even have a movie night!"

Loreali smiles as she watches Rory skip happily into her room and shut the door.

"Hey, someone seems happy. What was that all about?" Sookie nods in the direction of Rory's room from her station at the stove.

"Oh, Chris has invited us on a road trip and Rory gets to spend the night at his house."

"That's good, right?" Sookie turns around to look at Lorelai who is now sitting at the table. "You don't exactly look thrilled."

"I know. It's just- Chris doesn't have the best track record, and if he cancels like he always does I'm the one who's going to pick up the pieces."

"Hmmm…" Sookie shoots her friend a comforting look before turning back to the contents of the pot she was stirring. Lorelai sighs and silently wills Rory's MIA father to come through this time.


	2. Tears, Rocky Road and a New Invitation

Chapter 2- Tears, Rocky Road, and a New Invitation

This one takes place two days before the girls planned to take their trip-

Rory stumbled into Luke's diner and looked around. At first glance it was obvious who she was looking for wasn't there. _Well if I can't have Mom, the next best thing for a troubled heart is coffee._ She walked past Kirk and his PB+J and took a seat at the counter, putting her book bag on the floor beside her.

_She's quiet today. I mean she doesn't have Lorelai's talk constantly gene, but she usually has something to say. _Luke pours her a cup of coffee.

"You okay?"

Rory only nods, her head bent over her cup.

"School good?"

Again, the same nod. Luke walks over to collect Kirk's money before trying once again to talk to Rory.

"Don't you guys have some big trip planned this weekend? I thought I heard your mom talking earlier."

At this, Rory broke down.

"He canceled," she said between silent sobs.

_That jerk. _"I'm sorry Rory."

Rory finally looked up, her anger evident in her eyes. "He called and left a message on my cell. I can't make it this weekend. What kind of a message is that? No explanation. Not even an I'm sorry." Rory cried harder. Luke looked around the empty diner before walking around the counter and wrapping Rory in an awkward hug. She clung to him until her tears subsided.

"Hey, your mom's at a meeting in Hartford, but I have ice cream if you want to hang out upstairs, watch some TV, till she gets back."

"Thanks, Luke." Rory wiped her eyes as Luke disappeared and then came back with an entire carton of Rocky Road. He handed it to her. "This stuff will kill ya you know," he tried to lighten the mood. Rory smiled weakly, scooped up her backpack and shuffled up the stairs to his apartment, still sniffling. Luke watched her go, and then he turned his attention to cleaning up. The whole time his thoughts were on how somebody could be that cruel to a kid like Rory. _Come on, he's her father. Isn't he supposed to be there for her?_ Luke was about to go up and check on Rory again when Lorelai came dancing through the door.

"Coffee, coffee, coffee, I need coffee. Man, Hartford business people are boring. And seriously, who is in charge of the coffee at those things, 'cause if there is ever a time when you need a cup of coffee, it's when you're listening to people drone on and on about hotel regulations for an hour-and-a-half."

Luke smiled a little as she sank, rant over, into a seat at the counter. He poured her a cup of her life-saving liquid, and she took a long sip.

"Hey, you haven't been home yet have you?"

"No, I haven't, why?" She was confused by his question.

"Rory's upstairs. It seems her dad canceled on her- on you guys- and she was a little bummed. I gave her some ice cream. She's up there watching some mushy Lifetime movie now." Luke watched her for her reaction.

"That is so typical." Lorelai's eyes blazed. "Make big plans, get her hopes up. Have me thinking he's really going to try and be a father. That is so Christopher. And yet, I keep believing him. Keep hoping there's a chance he'll want to really know his daughter." Lorelai shook her head as if to clear it of all her Christopher misconceptions.

Luke couldn't stand watching both of his favorite women hurt in one day.

"He's crazy you know. Rory's a great kid. She doesn't deserve this. You don't deserve this." He added the last part quietly, but she heard him and managed half a smile.

"Thanks Luke. I'm gonna go get her and get her home."

Luke went to wait on a few more customers while Lorelai trudged up the stairs to her daughter hoping she wasn't too terribly upset. _She has every right to be though._

"Knock, knock." She stepped into Luke's apartment

"Mom!" Rory jumped off the couch and hugged her mother tight.

"Hey, babe. I heard about your dad. I'm so sorry hun."

"It's okay, mom, really. I guess I should have expected it."

"No, no. He's your father. He loves you; he just doesn't quite know how to show it sometimes." _Why am I defending him?_ Lorelai put an arm around Rory. "What do you say the two of us go anyway, huh? We don't have plans for Saturday, and it will be fun to show you all the places mommy did stupid things."

Rory laughed a little. "Okay, sure. Why not."

"Good." Lorelai kissed her daughter on the top of her head and then started to walk towards the door, expecting Rory to follow her. She didn't.

"Hey mom. Can Luke come with us?"

"Luke?"

"Yeah. I mean, I had my heart set on the whole father/daughter thing, and Luke's always sort of been a second dad. He gave me ice cream." Rory pointed to the carton on the table. Lorelai's a little flustered by this. _Since when did she think of Luke as a father figure?_

"Well, sure, I guess. We'll have to ask him." She managed a brave smile despite the fact that her insides were flip-flopping at her daughter's news, and mother and daughter set off down the stairs. They returned to their seats at the counter amidst a diner full of the dinner rush. Lorelai resumed drinking her recently abandoned cup of coffee and Rory ordered a new one. After things had settled in the diner, and they each had consumed an absurd amount of French fries, they had the chance to make their proposition to Luke.

"Hey Lukey.

"Don't call me that."

"Yeah, whatever. So Lukey we have a question for you."

"We were wondering if maybe, you know, if you're not doing anything, you wanted to come with us on our road trip on Saturday."

Luke looked down at the two eager faces before him. Truth was, he'd do anything for the two of them, especially the one who insisted on calling him Lukey, but he had a reputation to uphold- couldn't seem to eager. "Yeah, well, I guess I could maybe leave Caesar in charge for the day." He looks down at his feet for a second. "Where are we going?"

Rory let out a little squeal and Lorelai gave him a look of appreciation for making her daughter happy. "Mom's gonna show us her old summer camp in Maine."

"Oh, yes. You get to see the place where I was in all my glory. Falling out of canoes, burning marshmallows, being bitten by bugs till I bled. The stories I shall bore you with for hours." Luke gave her a look and continued to scrub the counter. "We'll have to take the truck though 'cause we can't all fit in the jeep."

"Okay, you guys want to meet me here in the morning then?"

"Sure." They gathered up their stuff and stood to go. "Thanks again Luke." Lorelai gave him a sincere smile this time and Rory just beamed at him, happy to have someone in her life who wouldn't let her down. Luke just rolled his eyes and wondered what in the world he had gotten himself into agreeing to a whole day with the Gilmore girls.

**Review Please! Is it any good? A few more chapters to come if you think I should continue.**


	3. Stuck in a Truck with the Gilmore Girls

**Thanks to everyone who sent me such awesome reviews! I'm having fun with this story, and it's good to know other people are, too. **

Chapter 3- Stuck in a Truck with the Gilmore Girls

It's the day of all days, Saturday, and time for the road trip-

"Mom, you gotta get up," Rory whined for the eighth time already that morning. "Version number 2 of this trip was your idea, and that does sort of make it imperative that you actually come with us."

"Ooookay," Lorelai rolls over and faces her daughter, "but shouldn't that also give me the right to change the time of the trip to say… later?"

"Mom, Maine is far away, and if you want to have any time to actually spend there we need to leave in like 15 minutes."

"Oh alright. You win, but I am going to be grumpy all day because of this." Lorelai finally tumbles out of bed, scowls at Rory, and then makes her way down the hall to the bathroom"

"Fifteen minutes!" Rory sighs as the bathroom door slams in the distance.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, thanks to a promise of coffee and a lot of nagging on Rory's part, the two step into Luke's diner. Luke looks up when he hears the bells ring and takes in Lorelai's obvious attitude about being awake at this time of day.

"Well, if it isn't little miss sunshine."

"Oh, shut up you." She sits down at a table and lays her head in her arms.

"It's okay Luke, she'll be fine once we get some coffee in her." Rory walks up to the counter.

"I hope so, 'cause I don't know if I can spend a few hours in the car with that."

"Try living in the same house." They grin at each other.

"Here's your coffee." He hands two full mugs to Rory who walks them over to the table where her mom is sitting. Lorelai doesn't look up.

"Do you think there's a way you could just shoot it straight into my blood? It would require a lot less effort on my part.

"Nope. Until the science of coffee injection is perfected, you are just gonna have to make it work and drink it."

"Fine." She sits up and downs half the cup in one sip. "Ahh, feeling more normal already."

"Are you ever normal?" Luke walks over to their table and Lorelai just glares at him.

"So, what do you guys want for breakfast before we get going?" Rory and Lorelai smile at each other and start listing...

It was a long time before the three of them climbed into Luke's truck to start their journey. This was partly because the girls insisted on eating the largest breakfast possible, much to Luke's chagrin, to prepare for the day ahead, and partly because Taylor came in to consult with Luke on something. What the something was, Luke wasn't really sure because he never really paid attention when Taylor was talking anyway. But there they were, finally, their picnic lunch tucked away on the floor, Rory squeezed in between the two adults. It was at this point that Luke chose to bring up the subject he had been dreading.

"Lorelai, do you have any idea how to get to this camp?" _Like you don't already know the answer to that one, Danes._

"Uhh…" Lorelai just looked sheepish. Luke shot her a look. "Well.. I haven't been there since I was 15."

"Oh, jeez. So what do we do now?"

"Calm down, calm down. I can solve this." Rory leans over and rummages through her bag and pulls out a piece of paper. "Ta-daa! I mapquested it last night in preparation for a situation such as this." She hands the sheet to Luke who looks it over.

"You have no faith in mommy." Lorelai pouts to Rory.

"No, I have no faith in mommy's sense of direction. There's a difference."

"Well, this doesn't look too hard," Luke assesses. "Guess we should get going." He puts the truck in gear and they're on their way.

They're driving through Massachusetts. Luke has listened to Rory rattle on about Paris and Chilton. Lorelai has told several amusing anecdotes about Sookie and her misadventures at the inn. He comments when he feels he has something to add, but otherwise is content to concentrate on the road. Suddenly, Lorelai spots a sign for a roadside rest stop.

"Oo oo oo, Luke! Next exit get off!"

"What, why?"

"Cause I want to find my next boyfriend among the available truckers. Why do you think?"

"Well, I don't know."

"She has to pee. It's all the coffee." Rory clarifies while looking between the people on opposite sides of her. _Why does it sometimes seem like the two of them communicate in a different language?_

"You could have just said that." Lorelai rolls her eyes at him as he steers the truck up the exit ramp. She then proceeds to jump out of the truck the second they stop and disappear in the direction of the restroom. Luke and Rory get out to stretch their legs, and a semi-awkward silence ensues. Both of them are thinking about the last time they were alone together. They've walked halfway around the parking lot before Luke breaks the silence.

"Hey, you wanna go get a snack or something for the rest of the ride up?"

"Sure, why not?" She starts to head in the direction of the mini-mart before she remembers. She turns around and looks at Luke. "Uhh, Luke. I don't have any money with me." She lets out a nervous giggle.

"Oh, hey that's okay." He reaches for his wallet and hands her a few ones. "Just don't spend all of it on junk." Rory smiles.

"I won't." With that, she walks off leaving Luke standing by himself, hands in his pockets. A few seconds later, Lorelai joins him.

"Ugh. I hate highway bathrooms." She throws her gum wrapper away in the trashcan next to her then realizes Rory is missing. "Where's my kid?"

"Oh, Rory, she went in to buy a snack. She should be back any minute."

"Oh." Lorelai looks at her feet then back up. "Wait, she didn't have any money 'cause I have it all." She gives Luke a questioning look.

"I gave her some, just a few bucks." Lorelai lets loose one of her mega-watt smiles.

"Ooohhh Luke. You know I really appreciate everything you're doing for Rory. I'm sure coming on this trip with us isn't exactly your idea of a super Saturday, but Chris isn't the most…involved dad, and she's just been beaming ever since you said you'd come. So.. Thanks, just thanks for this." She smiles again.

"Hey, it's no big deal- really." They smile at each other until Rory walks up with her purchases grinning at the look on both adults faces. _Well, well, well what have we here?_

Rory hands Luke an apple and shoves some high in sugar chocolate bar at her mom while they're climbing back in the truck.

"Hey, what did you get for yourself?"

"Umm," Rory looks through her bag, "this!" She holds up an apple identical to Luke's. Luke looks a little surprised, but Lorelai just smiles at her daughter's newfound healthy eating habits. _That's so cute, she wants to be like Luke on her father/daughter day. It still creeps me out that she thinks of him that way, but I can deal. Really, I can. I think._

The rest of the ride Lorelai and Luke have a silent argument over which radio station they're going to listen to. Every few seconds one of them switches it to their preferred music, until Rory gets frustrated and turns it off all together.

"You guys are two." At this point, Lorelai gets very excited and starts bouncing in her seat again as she strains to take in the landmarks around her.

"Hey, I recognize that house! We're almost there!" Sure enough, two minutes later, they are driving under the wooden gateway of Camp Indian Hill.

**Sorry, this got a little long. I know the plot didn't really get very far in this chapter, but I wanted to show some of the car ride, and it just kept getting longer. Next chapter- Lorelai acts as official tour guide for Luke and Rory. I know you can't wait.**


	4. Of Hockey Puck Hamburgers

**Thanks for more great reviews! Enjoy, especially all of you who have ever been to summer camp and know how amazing the memories are.**

Chapter 4- Of Hockey Puck Hamburgers and Other Memories

Lorelai presses her forehead up against the window as they drive up the camp's lengthy private road. You can tell by the look on her face that it's all coming back to her, after all these years. They reach the small gravel parking lot next to the few main buildings, and all three jump out. Lorelai looks around her.

"I don't think this place has changed one bit." Rory smiles at her mom, and she and Luke give her a few minutes to bask in memories. When she finally shakes herself out of her reverie, she turns to face them. "Okay, well seeing as I'm the only one who's ever been here before, I have earned the right to be official tour guide, and as official tour guide I suggest we start with…" she looks around her, "the dining hall. Right this way my fine lady and gentlemen." They make their way along the gravel path to the large wooden building on the right of the parking lot. It occurs to Rory all of a sudden that what they are doing is probably trespassing.

"Mom, are we allowed to be here? Aren't all the buildings going to be locked or something?" Luke snorts a little and waits for Lorelai to get herself out of this one.

"Oh, my naïve little daughter, what are gawky, annoying pre-teen boys good at but figuring out ways to break into the dining hall for a little midnight snack? Your dad and his friends knew where they kept the spare key to this place the second night we were ever here." Rory flinches slightly at the mention of her dad, but then joins Luke in being thoroughly amused as they watch Lorelai walking heel-to-toe in front of one of the windows. She's watching her feet carefully.

"…Three, four…." She reaches up and feels along the upper ledge of the window until her hand meets metal. "Ah-ha! I remembered, I knew I did. First window to the right, four steps from the edge. I wonder if they realize just how many people knew, still know, how to break into this place." She smiles to herself. Luke looks a little stunned, but Rory is still having the nagging feeling that they're going to get caught.

"Mom, as impressive as your trespassing skills are, what if someone sees us?"

"Then we blame it all on Luke. Yeah, we say he abducted us and brought us here to be murdered. I can be very persuasive, and we could get away with it if you cried a little, got all dramatic." Lorelai says all this like it's the most natural thing in the world while also trying to get the key to turn in a lock that hasn't been used in a few weeks.

"Well at least now I know why you really invited me." Rory looks over at him sympathetically then, and Lorelai gets the door open with a flourish of dust and cobwebs. After some sneezing, and a little searching for the light switches, the large room brightens before their eyes.

"Could use a good dusting," Luke grumbles as he looks around at what, to him, is a large empty, dusty, wooden room with tables stacked against the walls. Nothing remarkable. To Lorelai, it's a cathedral- full of sacred memories of old friends and bad food. Rory is torn between the look of pure joy on her mother's face, and her actual thoughts on the place.

"Well, Ms. Tour Guide, do explain the scene before our eyes." Lorelai looks around her. Then walks over to a table in the corner.

"This table over here always had the coffee. It was only for counselors, of course, but I don't resent that, really, 'cause I learned the art of flirting to get what I want because of it." She bats her eyelashes at Luke, and he smiles a little, knowing she is referring to their daily coffee ritual. _Does she really think we're flirting? Sometimes it's hard to tell._ They continue around the dining hall, Lorelai getting more and more animated with each passing story.

"I remember the time they gave us cheese to put on our waffles at breakfast." She smiles; reminiscing. "We had a new cook, and she was clueless. Word of advice Luke; don't ever try to sell cheese waffles."

"Okay, don't think I will. Never would have occurred to me actually."

"Oooh, and one time, they gave us a very interesting concoction of pineapple and carrots at dinner."

"Oh, gross," Rory comments.

"It gets better," Lorelai grins at her daughter. "One time we had hamburgers that were cooked so long some of us actually went out and played hockey with the leftovers."

"Thank you for never sending me to camp. Did you ever have any food fights?"

"Oh, Rory what kind of a question is that? Do you really think that your mother would ever lower herself to participating in such a disgraceful thing as a food fight?" She feigns being offended and Rory rolls her eyes at her.

"I bet you didn't just participate, I bet you started it."

"Again, with the accusations."

"You're not denying them."

"Yes, well, that's because they are so scandalous they aren't even worthy of my response."

"Okay, whatever." They laugh their way through a few more ridiculous food stories, before realizing they are all rather hungry themselves. Rory goes out to get their picnic lunch from the truck while Luke and Lorelai un-stack a table and some benches for them to eat on. Luke, knowing them as well as he does, packed an insane amount of food, and he watches them eat for quite some time after he's finished.

"How can you two eat so much?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's all those summers of being deprived of real food. I only have the rest of my life to make up for it. And Rory, well, she's just weird."

"Hey." She hits her mom lightly on the arm, but laughs anyway. The two of them do eventually finish, though, and after locking up the dining hall and stashing the key again, Rory and Luke have no choice but to follow a very excited Lorelai down a twisty path toward the camp barn. They come out into a small clearing after a few minutes. To the left is a small stable with enough stalls to hold fifteen horses and to the right is a large, fenced in riding ring. The horses aren't there, but Lorelai doesn't seem to mind. She goes and stands in the middle of one of the stalls.

"Mom, what are you doing?" _I don't know if I really want to know._

"This- was Sam's stall. Oh, he was my favorite horse here. He was old. And fat. And grumpy. But he always behaved for me. Man, I spent hours in this stall every summer. I'd bring him carrots or something and then just sit and talk to him. He was a very good listener. Sam was the reason I've always loved horses. And for some reason- I always got the feeling that he was British. Hmmm." Luke and Rory exchange amused glances at this and Lorelai turns on the spot, taking in the entire stall before wandering down the row of them. "There was Daisy, Jack, Rasberry. Oh, and crazy Cricket. Fell off of him many a time. I was very graceful back then." She's not paying attention to where she's walking, and she trips right on cue.

"Still are, I see." Luke smiles and helps steady her on her feet again.

"Yes, well what is Mom if not very well poised?" She grins somewhat mischievously- both at her comment and at the look on her mom's face when Luke caught her. Lorelai gives her a half-hearted glare, but she is still a little ruffled from the unexpected feel of Luke's hands on her arms. She wanders the rest of the barn in silence, but gets excited all over again at the prospect of seeing the cabins. They pass the lake on their way, and Lorelai reenacts, very theatrically and on dry land of course, the infamous day that Digger flipped over their canoe. She has Rory in stitches and even Luke can't help but smile at the thought of Lorelai dumped out of a canoe.

"To this day I swear he did it on purpose, but he'd never admit it." She sighs. "It's so pretty here though, isn't it? With the trees and everything. I used to come down her almost every night to watch the sunset. It just made me feel like everything in the world was right, ya know? Like I had all of summer stretched out in front of me and nothing could go wrong." She puts an arm around Rory who's trying her hardest to see what her mom sees in this place. They all stand and gaze out over the water for a few minutes. Rory shifts her weight a little, and Lorelai realizes she's probably boring them.

"My, my, my- I have been neglecting my duties as tour guide. Up next on your right will be some of the many residential cabins located at Camp Indian Hill. I, Lorelai Gilmore, was a proud tenant of Cabin Powhatan most of my summers here." They turn the corner, and she points to a medium sized cabin halfway up the hill in front of them.

"Aww, Mom, it's so cute. Straight out of a movie."

"What movie?"

"I don't know… a movie about summer camp."

"Are their any movies about summer camp?"

"Probably."

"Well, I've never seen any."

"Well, if there was a movie about summer camp, that cabin would be in it."

"Let's just go see the cabin please." Luke, quite frankly, doesn't care if there are any movies about summer camp. They walk up to Cabin Powhatan and peer in the windows. The door is locked, so they can't go in. Despite Lorelai's expert break-and-enter skills, the gang never did have a reason to find the spare keys to the cabins.

"Yes, it was a good little cabin. Cozy and comfortable. Though it didn't have enough closet space for all my shoes." Rory giggles to find that her mom's love of shoes has spanned her entire life. "And that about raps up your tour. They do have sports fields somewhere around her, but I never set foot on them then, and I really don't care to see them now."

"Okay, then I guess we should be getting back. We can stop for dinner on the way."

"Sounds like a plan." Lorelai turns to lead the way back to the truck. They walk in silence. Lorelai is still lost in her own memories, and Rory is thinking about how her mom might complain about the bugs and the bad food, but camp meant more to her than she'd ever admit. Luke ponders the fact that he had a better time than he'd expected. Rory yawns as they climb back into the truck, even though it's still early. Lorelai is about to close the door when she stops.

"Hey, wait. There's one more think I want to show Rory. Luke, could you just hold on a sec?" She doesn't wait for his answer, but pulls Rory out after her and walks a little ways into the woods next to the dining hall. She looks around a little bit, then spots what she's searching for.

"Look, hun." A few feet up a fat, old oak tree are the initials CH and LG carved inside of a rather lopsided heart. "We did that the last night we were here. I'm sorry you're dad couldn't come, babe." She hugs Rory.

"It's alright Mom; really, you don't have to apologize for him. Besides, Luke was a more than adequate substitute." She wipes the beginnings of tears out of her eyes, then smiles. "Can I ask you a question though?"

"Sure. Anything."

"Why are your initials so much more crooked than dad's?" Lorelai laughs.

"Well, me being the independent woman that I am, I insisted on carving my own initials. Of course, my woodworking skills are a little iffy, so that was the result." She points to the LG. "After my astonishing success, your dad made me carve the heart to redeem myself, but I failed horribly." They both giggle as they look back at the crooked heart surrounding the letters. After a few more seconds, "Come on kid, Luke's waiting." They get back in the truck with an annoyed, but understanding, Luke. When he notices that Rory's been crying he looks at Lorelai who silently mouths "She's fine" over Rory's head. With that, she once again leans against the window to silently say her goodbyes to Camp Indian Hill as they make their way back to civilization.

**I'm thinking maybe one more chapter to go- dinner and the rest of the ride home. I'm going away for three weeks, so I gotta rap this up. Oh, and by the way, all of those food stories at the beginning of the chapter- all taken from real mealtime experiences I had at camp.**


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